Chemistryhttp://www.businessinsider.com/category/chemistry
en-usMon, 19 Mar 2018 08:18:39 -0400Mon, 19 Mar 2018 08:18:39 -0400The latest news on Chemistry from Business Insiderhttp://static3.businessinsider.com/assets/images/bilogo-250x36-wide-rev.pngBusiness Insiderhttp://www.businessinsider.com
http://www.businessinsider.com/guinness-plastic-smoothifier-widget-adds-nitrogen-2016-3Guinness cans hide a weird plastic ball — here's how it works and why it makes your beer extra delicioushttp://www.businessinsider.com/guinness-plastic-smoothifier-widget-adds-nitrogen-2016-3
Fri, 16 Mar 2018 12:16:00 -0400Julia Calderone
<p><img src="http://static2.businessinsider.com/image/5aabe4f8873dc624008b46df-960/10418396101534653697865191798227368769166330n.png" alt="Guinness Brewers" data-mce-source="Guinness" /></p><p></p>
<ul>
<li><strong>Guinness cans and bottles fizz and bubble when you open them.</strong></li>
<li><strong>Plastic devices called widgets blast the stout beer with nitrogen gas to give it a creamy head.</strong></li>
<li><strong>In cans, widgets are spherical; in bottles, they're shaped like rockets.</strong></li>
</ul>
<hr />
<p><br />Tomorrow is St. Patrick's Day, which means hordes of green-clad booze hounds will be flocking to neighborhood bars and house parties to pound some cold ones.</p>
<p>And what beer is more quintessentially "Irish" than a Guinness?</p>
<p>If you're celebrating with a bottle or a can of this Irish dry stout, you may notice the clink-clank of a tiny object rattling around the inside.</p>
<p>That little gadget is called a "widget," and you should be thankful for it. It's making your beer taste like it was just poured fresh from the tap.</p>
<p>Here's how.</p>
<h2>What Guinness widgets look like, how they work</h2>
<p><img style="float:right;" src="http://static4.businessinsider.com/image/5605b64edd08952f608b46d1-800/widgetguinness.jpg" alt="Widget_Guinness" data-mce-source="Duk/Wikimedia Commons" data-mce-caption="The plastic widget was developed by Guinness in 1969 to give their canned brews a silky, creamy head." data-link="https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Widget_Guinness.jpg" /></p>
<p>In cans of Guinness, the widget is a hollow, spherical piece of plastic with a tiny hole in it. As you can see in this photo (right), it looks like a little ping pong ball.</p>
<p>In bottles with widgets, the device looks more like a three-inch-long rocket (pictured below).</p>
<p>During the canning process, brewers add pressurized nitrogen to the brew, which trickles into the hole along with a little bit of beer. The entire can is then pressurized.</p>
<p>When you open the can, the pressure inside drops to equalize with the pressure in the room. But the pressure inside the widget is still much higher than the pressure in the beer around it, since the gas can escape only through a tiny hole. That makes the nitrogen inside the widget squirt into the beer like a jet. This blast creates a burst of tiny nitrogen bubbles that rise to the top of beer, giving it a thick, creamy head like the one you'd get from a tap.</p>
<p><img style="float:right;" src="http://static4.businessinsider.com/image/5aabeabc0bbf1c2a008b46d5-1791/guinness-bottle-plastic-rocket-widget-wikipedia-public-domain.jpg" alt="guinness bottle plastic rocket widget wikipedia public domain" data-mce-source="Joeinwap/Wikipedia (public domain)" data-mce-caption="A plastic &amp;quotrocket&amp;quot widget found in some bottles of Guinness." data-link="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:BottleWidget.jpg" /></p>
<p>Guinness brewers first patented the idea of the widget in 1969, but it wasn't until 20 years later that they released their first-generation widget, which was a flattened sphere that sat at the bottom of the can.</p>
<p>This little piece of plastic did its job well when serving the beer cold, but when served warm, the beer exploded everywhere after the can was cracked open.</p>
<p>So in 1997, Guinness released the floating, spherical widget you can see in cans today &mdash; which they call the "Smoothifier" &mdash; to fix this problem.</p>
<h2>Why nitrogen and not carbon dioxide?</h2>
<p><img style="float:right;" src="http://static4.businessinsider.com/image/5aabe88fcc502925008b476e-1500/liquid-nitrogen-cold-dewar-pouring-out-freezing-cold-shutterstock139521131.jpg" alt="liquid nitrogen cold dewar pouring out freezing cold shutterstock_139521131" data-mce-source="Shutterstock" data-mce-caption="Liquid nitrogen pours from an insulated dewar into a bottle." data-link="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/liquid-nitrogen-transfer-139521131" /></p>
<p>Breweries typically use carbon dioxide to give a beer its quintessential bitter fizz, but a drink like Guinness calls for a sweeter, silkier experience.</p>
<p>So brewmasters infuse the ale with nitrogen rather than with carbon dioxide, since nitrogen bubbles are smaller than CO<sub>2</sub> bubbles. The resulting head and taste is smoother and more delicate.</p>
<p>Nitrogen gas also doesn't easily <a href="http://www.craftbeer.com/craft-beer-muses/good-beer-gas-nitro-beers-explained">dissolve in water</a>, so when you crack open a beer, most of the gas is released into the air, but the foamy bubbles in the head still remain. This &mdash; along with the smaller bubbles &mdash; gives the brew a thicker, more velvety "mouthfeel" without the acidic bite of carbonation with CO<sub>2</sub>.</p>
<p>Because of the fleeting nature of nitrogen gas in liquid, it's hard to maintain tasty levels of the gas in packaged beers once you open them.</p>
<p>"With nitrogen, you would require way higher (and dangerous) levels of pressure, and still loose plenty of nitrogen (and beer due to foaming) during packaging," Xavier Jirau<strong>, </strong>scientific advisor of the homebrew club <a href="http://www.brewminaries.com/about/">The Brewminaries</a>, previously told Tech Insider via email. "In order to deal with this issue, brewers got little creative, and there is where Guinness plastic widgets come into play."</p>
<p>The popularity of widgets have caught on since Guinness introduced them in the late 80s. Other beers such as Old Speckled Hen, Young's Double Chocolate Stout, Murphy's Stout, and Boddingtons Pub Ale all have widgets in their cans.</p>
<p>So go crack a cold one on this glorious day, and thank that little plastic sphere for delivering your delicious, velvety brew.</p>
<p><em>This story was updated with new information. It was originally published on March 17, 2018, at 10:58 a.m. ET.</em></p><p><strong>SEE ALSO:&nbsp;<a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/non-vegetarian-vegan-foods-beverages-2016-3" >8 foods and drinks that look vegetarian but may use animal products</a></strong></p>
<p><strong>DON'T MISS:&nbsp;<a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/coffee-boil-hard-or-distilled-water-better-2017-12" >Brewing a perfect cup of coffee requires the right water — and pure H2O is the worst kind</a></strong></p>
<p><a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/guinness-plastic-smoothifier-widget-adds-nitrogen-2016-3#comments">Join the conversation about this story &#187;</a></p> <p>NOW WATCH: <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/draft-beer-vs-bottled-better-brooklyn-brewery-2015-3">Is draft beer better than bottled beer?</a></p> http://www.businessinsider.com/nerve-agents-chemical-weapons-how-they-work-2018-3Novichok is a 'dangerous and sophisticated' Soviet-era nerve agent — here's how it works and why it's so lethalhttp://www.businessinsider.com/nerve-agents-chemical-weapons-how-they-work-2018-3
Tue, 13 Mar 2018 10:31:00 -0400Dave Mosher
<p><img src="http://static5.businessinsider.com/image/5aa7ccd93be59f31008b4875-2000/novichok-newcomer-new-guy-nerve-agent-attack-russian-spy-uk-reuters-rts1mq0n.jpg" alt="novichok newcomer new guy nerve agent attack russian spy uk reuters RTS1MQ0N" data-mce-source="Peter Nicholls/Reuters" data-mce-caption="UK officials in protective suits inspect a bench where Sergei Skripal and his daughter Yulia were found after a suspected nerve agent attack." data-link="https://pictures.reuters.com/archive/BRITAIN-RUSSIA--RC1D678AB510.html" /></p><p></p>
<ul>
<li><strong>Chemical weapons called nerve agents were likely used in the attempted murder of Sergei Skripal, a former Russian spy, and his daughter Yulia.</strong></li>
<li><strong>UK authorities identified the nerve agent as a Novichok, a class of chemicals that means "newcomer" in Russian.</strong></li>
<li><strong>Novichok nerve agents were developed by the Soviet Union and some are reportedly five to 10 times more lethal than VX.</strong></li>
<li><strong>Nerve agents like Novichok attack the spaces between nerves and muscles to overwhelm essential bodily functions.</strong></li>
<li><strong>Enough of the chemical can stop a victim's breathing or heart, leading to death.</strong></li>
</ul>
<hr />
<p><br />Nerve agents kill people with gruesome efficiency, yet only after triggering unconscionable suffering through their powerful poisoning effects.</p>
<p>UK authorities are now convinced a Soviet-era nerve agent called a Novichok, which means "newcomer" in Russian, <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/sergei-skripal-attack-putin-wants-everyone-to-know-its-him-2018-3">was used in the attempted murder</a> of former Russian spy Sergei Skripal and his daughter Yulia. Novichoks were developed during the Cold War by the Soviet Union, though after that nation's collapse, Russia did not declare its stockpiles of the chemicals to the international community, <a href="https://www.reuters.com/article/us-britain-russia-chemicalweapons-factbo/factbox-a-few-facts-about-the-nerve-agent-novichok-idUSKCN1GO2JG" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Reuters reports</a>.</p>
<p>British prime minister Theresa May said on Monday that based on a laboratory identification of Novichok, "Russia's record of conducting state-sponsored assassinations, and our assessment that Russia views some defectors as legitimate targets for assassinations, the government has concluded that it is highly likely that Russia was responsible for the act against Sergei and Yulia Skripal."</p>
<p><img style="float:right;" src="http://static4.businessinsider.com/image/5aa7894f3be59f27008b45e6-911/theresa may russia retaliation.jpg" alt="theresa may russia retaliation" data-mce-source="Leon Neal / Getty" />On Sunday, passers-by found the father and daughter collapsed on a public bench. Paramedics rushed them to a nearby hospital, where they remain critically ill as of Tuesday.</p>
<p>The toxicity of Novichoks "may exceed that of VX" &mdash; the deadliest of <a href="https://www.opcw.org/about-chemical-weapons/types-of-chemical-agent/nerve-agents/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">five common nerve agents</a> &mdash; according <a href="https://www.opcw.org/fileadmin/OPCW/SAB/en/sab-16-01_e_.pdf" target="_blank" rel="noopener">to</a> <a href="https://www.opcw.org/fileadmin/OPCW/CSP/RC-3/en/rc3wp01_e_.pdf" target="_blank" rel="noopener">documents</a> released by the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons. Reuters reported that Novichoks may even be "five to 10 times more lethal" than VX. Other powerful nerve agents include tabun, <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/sarin-gas-weapon-effects-human-body-2017-4">sarin</a>, soman, and GF.</p>
<p>North Korean leader Kim Jong Un is accused of having his agents use VX in the 2017 assassination of his half-brother, Kim Jong Nam, and the chemical is reportedly strong enough to kill with <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/vx-nerve-gas-poison-2012-2">a single drop</a>.</p>
<p>In pure form, most nerve agents are colorless and mostly odorless liquids. Any of them can harm a person through the skin, breathing, ingestion, or all three routes, depending on how it's dispersed. VX resembles a thick oil but dissolves in water, while sarin (which was spread <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/sarin-was-used-in-syria-chemical-weapons-attack-2017-4">over a Syria's Idlib province</a> on April 4, 2017) quickly evaporates into the air.</p>
<p>Some Novichoks can exist as powdery solids, the <a href="http://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-43377698">BBC reports</a>, while others are "binary weapons" &mdash; meaning they can be made on-the-spot by mixing together two less-toxic ingredients that are easier to sneak across international borders.</p>
<p>"This is a more dangerous and sophisticated agent than sarin or VX and is harder to identify," Gary Stephens, a pharmacology expert at the University of Reading in the UK, told the BBC.</p>
<h2>How nerve agents attack the body and brain</h2>
<p>These two graphics illustrate what most nerve agents do to the body and how they work.</p>
<p><img src="http://static3.businessinsider.com/image/58ffb8b70ba0b89a1e8b5f3a-1200/nerve-agent-chemical-weapons-symptoms-effects-sarin-vx-tabun-soman-gf-business insider.png" alt="nerve agent chemical weapons symptoms effects sarin vx tabun soman gf business insider" data-mce-source="Diana Yukari/Business Insider" data-mce-caption="Nerve agents like tabun, sarin, soman, GF, and VX all have similar effects on the body, depending on the route of exposure." /></p>
<p>To produce these symptoms, nerve agents <a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3148621/">attack the body's cholinergic system</a>, which is used to transmit signals between the brain and muscle tissues.</p>
<p>The chemicals specifically target an enzyme that drifts in the spaces, or synapses, between nerve cells and muscle cells. There, they persist and constantly trigger muscles into overdrive.</p>
<p>This can paralyze victims, stop their breathing, and trigger convulsions, all of which can lead to death.</p>
<p><img src="http://static4.businessinsider.com/image/58ff5d107522ca1a008b6047-1200/how-nerve-agent-chemical-weapons-work-biochemistry-sarin-vx-tabun-soman-gf-business-insider.png" alt="how nerve agent chemical weapons work biochemistry sarin vx tabun soman gf business insider" data-mce-source="Diana Yukari/Business Insider" data-mce-caption="Nerve agents like tabun, sarin, soman, GF, and VX all target the connections between nerves and muscles." /></p>
<p><em>This story was originally published on March 8 at 12:15 p.m. ET and later updated with new information. <a href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/dianayukari" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Diana Yukari</a> contributed to a <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/sarin-vx-chemical-weapon-effects-body-2017-4">previous version</a> of this post.</em></p><p><strong>SEE ALSO:&nbsp;<a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/how-satan-2-icbm-nuclear-weapon-works-2018-3" >Putin has touted an 'invincible' nuclear weapon that really exists — here's how it works and why it deeply worries experts</a></strong></p>
<p><strong>DON'T MISS:&nbsp;<a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/vx-nerve-gas-poison-2012-2" >The nerve toxin reportedly used on Kim Jong Un's half-brother takes only a single, oily drop to kill</a></strong></p>
<p><a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/nerve-agents-chemical-weapons-how-they-work-2018-3#comments">Join the conversation about this story &#187;</a></p> <p>NOW WATCH: <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/black-widow-spider-bite-latrodectus-effects-toxic-deadly-poison-2017-6">Here's what happens when you get bitten by a black widow spider</a></p> http://www.businessinsider.com/coffee-boil-hard-or-distilled-water-better-2017-12Brewing a perfect cup of coffee requires the right water — and pure H2O is the worst kindhttp://www.businessinsider.com/coffee-boil-hard-or-distilled-water-better-2017-12
Mon, 25 Dec 2017 12:50:00 -0500Dave Mosher
<p><img src="http://static4.businessinsider.com/image/5a3b40574aa6b5a01a8b632f-2000/pouring-cup-black-coffee-close-zoom-baristashutterstock192759956.jpg" alt="pouring cup black coffee close zoom baristashutterstock_192759956" data-mce-source="Shutterstock" data-link="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/closeup-hand-drip-coffee-192759956" /></p><p></p>
<ul>
<li><strong>Water &mdash; the biggest ingredient in coffee by weight &mdash; can make or break the flavor of a freshly brewed cup, according to a chemist-barista research team.</strong></li>
<li><strong>Tap water brings out better flavor in coffee, though there are trade-offs between hard and soft water.</strong></li>
<li><strong>Some beans are better suited to being brewed in hard or soft water.</strong></li>
</ul>
<hr />
<p><br />Making a truly great cup of coffee requires great beans, an expert roaster, the right grind, and proper technique.</p>
<p>But an often-overlooked element of brewing coffee at home is what constitutes perhaps 99% of the delicious drink's weight: Water.</p>
<p>To craft the tastiest cup o' joe, you shouldn't buy jugs of distilled or "pure" water, or spend money on expensive water-filtration devices.</p>
<p>In fact, in most parts of the country, the stuff out of our taps is probably the best kind of coffee-brewing H2O you could hope for.</p>
<h2>In search of a better brew</h2>
<p><img class="full float_right" style="color: #000000;" src="http://static2.businessinsider.com/image/5390ab88eab8ea81456ba577-1200-800/chris%20hendon%20and%20max%20dashwood%2028.jpg" alt="Chris Hendon and Max Dashwood" width="800" border="0" /><a href="http://chhendon.github.io/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Christopher H. Hendon</a>, a chemist at MIT, discovered the importance of water in coffee after overhearing a conversation between two frustrated baristas.</p>
<p>"They were having problems with coffee that tasted good one day and not another," Hendon previously told Business Insider. While that's a frustrating mystery for a coffee shop with exacting standards, but "from a chemistry point of view, that's an interesting problem," Hendon said.</p>
<p>Water can be "hard" (full of minerals like magnesium) or "soft" (most distilled water falls into this category).</p>
<p>Below is a map of the US that shows how water hardness varies from place to place. Dark-purple areas show where the softest water flows, red shows the hardest water, and white and blue are somewhere in between. Hardness can also vary over seasons, as the dissolved minerals can be diluted by a flood of spring rain or amplified by road salts and melting snow.</p>
<p><img class="full" src="http://static1.businessinsider.com/image/5390d65069bedd416e996145-883-689/screen%20shot%202014-06-05%20at%204.39.15%20pm.png" alt="water hardness map coffee usgs" width="800" border="0" /></p>
<p>Hendon teamed up with baristas Lesley and Maxcell Colonna-Dashwood &mdash; who <a href="http://sprudge.com/maxwell-colonna-dashwood-wins-2015-united-kingdom-barista-championship-72361.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener">won</a> the 2015 UK Barista Championship &mdash; and they <a href="http://www.bath.ac.uk/news/2014/06/05/coffee-chemistry/">found</a> that different kinds of "hardness" in water bring out significantly different flavors in coffee. (Hendon ran the experiments using a computer, while the coffee shop owners actually brewed sample cups.)</p>
<h2>Why water hardness matters so much for brewing coffee</h2>
<p><img style="float:right;" src="http://static5.businessinsider.com/image/500426bc6bb3f7c33f00000b-400/faucet.jpg" alt="faucet" data-mce-source="Andrew Magill/Flickr" data-link="http://www.flickr.com/photos/amagill/171092589/" />Roasted coffee beans are packed with compounds that give coffee is distinct aroma, mouthfeel, and taste. Those include citric acid, lactic acid, and eugenol (a compound that adds a "woodsy" taste). The amounts vary from one roasted batch of beans to the next, giving you an enjoyably different sensory experience each time.</p>
<p>Water, meanwhile, has a complexity all its own &mdash; higher levels of ions like magnesium and calcium make it "harder."</p>
<p>Here's the key: Some of the compounds in hard water are "sticky" and preferentially grab certain compounds in coffee when they meet in your brewing device. The more eugenol the water hangs on to, for example, the woodsier the taste of your coffee will be.</p>
<p>Magnesium is particularly sticky, so water that's high in magnesium will make coffee with a stronger flavor (and higher levels of caffeine). Hard water can also have high levels of bicarbonate, which Hendon found could lead to more bitter flavors coming through.</p>
<p>But while hard water is a bit of a gamble, depending on which minerals are present in higher concentrations, soft water seems to have no benefits at all. Its chemical composition "results in very bad extraction power," Hendon explained.</p>
<p>Soft water often contains sodium, but that has no flavor stickiness (for good or bad flavors), Hendon found. That means that you'll get a much stronger flavor from the same beans if you use high-magnesium "hard water" in place of distilled or softened water.</p>
<p>Hendon and his barista colleagues published their research in the <a href="http://pubs.acs.org/doi/abs/10.1021/jf501687c" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry</a>, and eventually wrote <a href="https://www.amazon.com/Water-Coffee-Science-Story-Manual/dp/1782806083/">a book, "Water for Coffee,"</a> that explains why lovers of the drink should worry about more than just beans.</p>
<p>"Water can transform the character of a coffee," the team wrote. An updated second edition of the book hits shelves in early 2018, according to its <a href="http://waterforcoffeebook.com/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">website</a>.</p>
<h2>A chemically perfect cup</h2>
<p><img src="http://static3.businessinsider.com/image/5a3b4057b0bcd51e008b666e-2000/brewing-black-coffee-pour-over-cup-barista-shutterstock473186929.jpg" alt="brewing black coffee pour over cup filtered barista shutterstock_473186929" data-mce-source="Shutterstock" data-link="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/drip-brewing-filtered-coffee-pourover-method-473186929" /></p>
<p>Unlike Hendon, the average coffee lover is not a chemist. You can't easily alter the composition of your water supply every time you want a delicious cup.</p>
<p>But you don't have to. Understanding that the kind of water you use matters will help you achieve the perfect brew &mdash; even if you're stuck with whatever comes out of your tap.</p>
<p>To start, you can look up the hardness of your water online (New Yorkers can <a href="http://www1.nyc.gov/nyc-resources/service/2717/water-hardness-information" target="_blank" rel="noopener">call 311</a>), and use that information to buy beans that are meant for "soft" or "hard" water. Hendon said that's the kind of thing upscale roasters will know.</p>
<p>Sure, you won't know the specific compounds in your water &mdash; that's the kind of rigorous coffee science Hendon and Colonna-Dashwood relied on to place fifth overall in the <a href="http://www.worldbaristachampionship.org" target="_blank" rel="noopener">World Barista Championship</a>. But you'll already be a step ahead if you buy from a local roaster.</p>
<p>When roasters test their beans, they do so using local water, so you can at least assume that locally-roasted coffee is optimized for the chemistry of your water. That's the opposite of a large chain like Starbucks, which, according to Hendon, uses totally pure water to ensure a completely uniform taste across the country.</p>
<p>"A lot of dark art has gone into coffee," Hendon said. "This is some real science."</p>
<p><em><a href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/laurenffriedman/">Lauren Friedman</a> wrote a previous version of this post.</em></p><p><strong>SEE ALSO:&nbsp;<a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/egg-coffee-recipe-directions-instructions-2017-10" >Crushing an egg into your coffee sounds disgusting — but it makes an amazing-tasting drink</a></strong></p>
<p><strong>DON'T MISS:&nbsp;<a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/coffee-caffeine-crystals-microscopic-2016-10" >Dried-up coffee looks absolutely beautiful under a microscope</a></strong></p>
<p><a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/coffee-boil-hard-or-distilled-water-better-2017-12#comments">Join the conversation about this story &#187;</a></p> <p>NOW WATCH: <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/best-barista-freeze-coffee-beans-us-barista-championship-2017-7">How the winner of this year’s top barista championship used science to crush the competition</a></p> http://www.businessinsider.com/magic-trick-isnt-really-turning-gold-into-silver-2017-11This 'magic trick' isn't really turning gold into silverhttp://www.businessinsider.com/magic-trick-isnt-really-turning-gold-into-silver-2017-11
Thu, 09 Nov 2017 12:46:16 -0500Meranda Yslas and Shira Polan
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Wed, 01 Nov 2017 08:54:18 -0400Nathaniel Lee and Jessica Orwig
<p>Why shouldn't you eat raw eggs? The risk of salmonella infection isn't the only problem. You're also robbing yourself of protein.</p>
<p>One egg contains about 6 grams of protein. In their natural state, these proteins are locked into a tight ball. Our bodies have a hard time absorbing protein in this shape.</p>
<p>When you cook the egg, the proteins unfold and combine with one another. This process turns the transparent part of the egg white.</p>
<p>It also makes the proteins easier to absorb. One study found that patients who ate egg protein absorbed 50$ of the protein in its raw form and absorbed 91$ when the proteins were cooked.</p>
<p>Plus, eggs contain all 9 essential amino acids that keep us healthy. But those nutrients are locked in the egg's proteins. So whether you prefer fried, scrambled, or hard boiled, do your body a favor and heat that egg up.</p><p><a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/eating-raw-egg-less-protein-nutrition-benefits-2017-10#comments">Join the conversation about this story &#187;</a></p> http://www.businessinsider.com/how-human-bodies-decay-2016-11What happens to your body after you diehttp://www.businessinsider.com/how-human-bodies-decay-2016-11
Tue, 31 Oct 2017 13:27:00 -0400Skye Gould and Rebecca Harrington
<p>There's no fighting it; each of us will die at some point. What happens next is a fascinating &mdash; if frightening &mdash; natural process.</p>
<p>Without preservation techniques like embalming or mummification, your body slowly begins to decay the second your heart stops beating.</p>
<p>It starts small, down at the cellular level. Your cells die, then bacteria, animals, and even the body itself digests your organs and tissues.</p>
<p>Here's how the complete, gruesome process plays out:</p>
<p><img src="http://static2.businessinsider.com/image/59f8b2833e9d253e2f8b530f-1200/bi-graphicswhat happens to your body when you die.png" alt="BI Graphics_What happens to your body when you die" data-mce-source="Skye Gould/Business Insider" /></p>
<p><em><strong>Sources: </strong><a href="http://www.nature.com/scitable/blog/brain-metrics/could_a_final_surge_in">Nature</a>, <a href="http://scholarlycommons.law.northwestern.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=4412&amp;context=jclc">Journal of Criminal Law and Criminology</a>, <a href="http://www.academia.dk/BiologiskAntropologi/Tafonomi/PDF/ArpadVass_2001.pdf">Microbiology Today</a>, <a href="http://endlink.lurie.northwestern.edu/last_hours_of_living/module12.pdf">EPEC Participant&rsquo;s Handbook</a>, <a href="http://www.bmj.com/content/335/7633/1288">BMJ</a>, <a href="http://australianmuseum.net.au/decomposition-fly-life-cycles">Australian Museum</a>, <a href="https://books.google.com/books?id=YzCW-eN60OgC&amp;lpg=PA326&amp;ots=7CsMU_krKG&amp;dq=Decomposition%20of%20Human%20Remains%20Robert%20C.%20Janaway&amp;pg=PA326#v=onepage&amp;q&amp;f=true">Decomposition of Human Remains</a></em></p><p><strong>SEE ALSO:&nbsp;<a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/mindfulness-meditation-how-to-infographic-2016-10" >The basics of mindfulness meditation are surprisingly simple</a></strong></p>
<p><strong>CHECK OUT: &nbsp;<a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/elon-musk-mars-colonization-planetary-contamination-spacex-human-missions-2016-9" >Elon Musk expects to find aliens on Mars and isn't concerned</a></strong></p>
<p><a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/how-human-bodies-decay-2016-11#comments">Join the conversation about this story &#187;</a></p> <p>NOW WATCH: <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/dirtiest-things-inside-hotel-room-2015-10">These are the dirtiest things in your hotel room</a></p> http://www.businessinsider.com/egg-coffee-recipe-directions-instructions-2017-10Crushing an egg into your coffee sounds disgusting — but it makes an amazing-tasting drinkhttp://www.businessinsider.com/egg-coffee-recipe-directions-instructions-2017-10
Sat, 28 Oct 2017 08:36:00 -0400Dave Mosher
<p><img style="float:right;" src="http://static1.businessinsider.com/image/59f249ddbcf93d1e008b4d59-2000/egg-coffee-ground-beans-brewing-recipe-dave-mosher-business-insider-9.jpg" alt="egg coffee ground beans brewing recipe dave mosher business insider 9" data-mce-source="Dave Mosher/Business Insider" data-link="http://davemosher.com"></p><p>Americans take their coffee many ways: hot, poured over ice, <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/cold-brew-coffee-taste-chemistry-science-solubles-volatile-2015-8">cold-brewed</a> overnight, and even <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/why-cold-brew-coffee-nitrogen-bubbles-tastes-better-2015-8">infused with nitrogen</a>.</p>
<p>Crushing an egg (shell and all), whisking it with freshly ground coffee, and boiling the mixture sounds gross. The result looks terrifying, too — like a hideous swamp creature gurgling in your pot.</p>
<p>However, the umber-red-colored drink that results, called "egg coffee," is almost free of bitter tannins and packs an extra-strong dose <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/coffee-caffeine-crystals-microscopic-2016-10">of caffeine</a>.</p>
<p>I first heard about egg coffee from <a href="https://www.eater.com/coffee-tea/2016/11/29/13769856/egg-coffee-scandinavian" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">an article by Joy Summers at Eater</a>, which explains how the US recipe came to Minnesota via Scandinavian immigrants. The goal? Turn weak, subpar coffee and hard water into a beverage greater than the sum of its parts.</p>
<p>New York City has great tap water, and you can find high-quality beans pretty much anywhere nowadays. But with the weather cooling and my curiosity piqued, I decided to try brewing my own egg coffee.</p>
<p>Here's how I made it and what I learned during the process.</p>
<p> </p><p><strong>SEE ALSO:&nbsp;<a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/sweetest-sodas-teas-coffees-energy-drinks-us-2017-7" >These bestselling beverages have the most sugar per ounce</a></strong></p>
<p><strong>DON'T MISS:&nbsp;<a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/worst-science-health-body-myths-2016-8" >49 health 'facts' you've been told all your life that are totally wrong</a></strong></p>
<h3>I don't have a stove-top coffee pot, which is ideal — though this one-quart pot did the trick. And while recipes for egg coffee vary wildly, hot water is a must. I put two cups on to boil.</h3>
<img src="http://static4.businessinsider.com/image/59f249f0bcf93dc5068b4c9f-400-300/i-dont-have-a-stove-top-coffee-pot-which-is-ideal--though-this-one-quart-pot-did-the-trick-and-while-recipes-for-egg-coffee-vary-wildly-hot-water-is-a-must-i-put-two-cups-on-to-boil.jpg" alt="" />
<br/><br/><h3>Also required: coffee! Run-of-the-mill canned varieties reportedly work wonders, but I used my favorite premium whole-bean roast, since that's all I had on hand.</h3>
<img src="http://static3.businessinsider.com/image/59f249ee3e9d251c008b5d48-400-300/also-required-coffee-run-of-the-mill-canned-varieties-reportedly-work-wonders-but-i-used-my-favorite-premium-whole-bean-roast-since-thats-all-i-had-on-hand.jpg" alt="" />
<p><p><em>Source: <a href="https://www.eater.com/coffee-tea/2016/11/29/13769856/egg-coffee-scandinavian">Eater</a></em></p></p>
<br/><br/><h3>One egg coffee recipe I saw called for 20 grams of ground beans, which is enough for two standard cups. So I measured it out...</h3>
<img src="http://static4.businessinsider.com/image/59f249eb3e9d25a8028b5bd6-400-300/one-egg-coffee-recipe-i-saw-called-for-20-grams-of-ground-beans-which-is-enough-for-two-standard-cups-so-i-measured-it-out.jpg" alt="" />
<p><p><em>Sources: <a href="https://www.homegrounds.co/egg-coffee-recipes/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Home Grounds</a>, <a href="https://www.blackbearcoffee.com/resources/83" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Black Bear Coffee</a></em></p></p>
<br/><br/><a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/egg-coffee-recipe-directions-instructions-2017-10#/#dropped-the-beans-into-this-magical-grinder-set-the-burr-for-drip-style-coffee--4">See the rest of the story at Business Insider</a> http://www.businessinsider.com/gallium-metal-melts-in-your-hand-2017-10There's a metal that melts in your hand and is safe to play with — here's how it workshttp://www.businessinsider.com/gallium-metal-melts-in-your-hand-2017-10
Wed, 11 Oct 2017 11:18:00 -0400Nick Fernandez, Shira Polan and Dave Mosher
<p>Gallium is a silvery metal and element number 31 on the Periodic Table, and it melts at&nbsp;85.6 degrees Fahrenheit. That's a temperature low enough for gallium to melt in your hand &mdash; and unlike the liquid metal mercury, <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/gallium-safe-metal-liquid-mercury-2017-1">gallium is safe to play with</a>, according to chemists.</p><p><strong>SEE ALSO:&nbsp;<a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/where-atoms-came-from-periodic-table-2017-1" >This new Periodic Table shows the astounding origins of every atom in your body</a></strong></p>
<p><a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/gallium-metal-melts-in-your-hand-2017-10#comments">Join the conversation about this story &#187;</a></p> http://www.businessinsider.com/the-real-reason-onions-make-you-cry-2017-10This is the real reason onions make you cryhttp://www.businessinsider.com/the-real-reason-onions-make-you-cry-2017-10
Fri, 06 Oct 2017 07:25:00 -0400Lindsay Dodgson
<p><img style="float:right;" src="http://static2.businessinsider.com/image/59d7687284da956736146837-960/chopping onions.jpg" alt="chopping onions" data-mce-source="Unsplash / Caroline Attwood" data-link="https://unsplash.com/photos/8_Tlng54n8Y" /></p><p>Onions are a staple of many dishes, but we use it at a cost. When chopping them up, many of us feel our eyes start to sting, then we start crying.</p>
<p>There are plenty of old wives' tales about how to stop the tears, from putting a piece of bread under your nose, to only using fresh onions. But what is it about onions that makes us react this way?</p>
<p>According to <a href="https://theconversation.com/why-onions-make-us-cry-and-why-some-dont-84486" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">an article in The Conversation</a>, all vegetables release chemicals called polyphenols when they are damaged and their cells are ripped open. It's a way of the plant defending itself from hungry animals and pests.</p>
<p>Onions have a particularly irritating chemical called propanthial s-oxide, which is very volatile. This means it quickly evaporates when it's released, and makes its way into our eyes.</p>
<p>In your eyes, the chemical mixes with water to create sulphenic acid, which irritates the tear glands. It's only a tiny amount of acid produced, so it's not harmful, but it's enough to make us cry.</p>
<p>There is some debate about why onions have this special power. It could be because there are higher levels of sulphur in the soil onions grow in.</p>
<p>The Conversation article says sweeter onions tend to have less of the compounds that produce the chemicals, but really there's no way to tell if an onion will make you cry until you cut into it.</p>
<p>If you're particularly affected by the onion's chemicals, you could try buying some goggles, boiling the onions before cutting them &mdash; although this isn't advisable &mdash; or just get someone who isn't so easily affected to cut them up for you.</p><p><a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/the-real-reason-onions-make-you-cry-2017-10#comments">Join the conversation about this story &#187;</a></p> <p>NOW WATCH: <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/open-bionics-prosthetic-arms-2018-2">These bionic arms make kids feel like superheroes</a></p> http://www.businessinsider.com/nobel-prize-chemistry-cryo-electron-microscopy-2017-10Here's what the images that just won the Nobel prize in chemistry look like and why they’re so transformativehttp://www.businessinsider.com/nobel-prize-chemistry-cryo-electron-microscopy-2017-10
Wed, 04 Oct 2017 15:04:00 -0400Kevin Loria
<p><img src="http://static2.businessinsider.com/image/59d4fb94c68d7b29008b75e7-1608/screen shot 2017-10-04 at 110853 am.png" alt="cryo-electron microscopy nobel prize chemistry" data-mce-source="The Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences" data-mce-caption="Over the last few years, researchers have published atomic structures of numerous complicated protein complexes. a. A protein complex that governs the circadian rhythm. b. A sensor of the type that reads pressure changes in the ear and allows us to hear. c. The Zika virus." /></p><p></p>
<ul>
<li><strong>Jacques Dubochet, Joachim Frank, and Richard Henderson were awarded the 2017 Nobel prize in chemistry Wednesday for developing cryo-electron microscopy.</strong></li>
<li><strong>The technique&nbsp;allows researchers to see the details of biological molecules like proteins, DNA, RNA, and viruses in ways that were impossible before.</strong></li>
<li><strong>The new technology&nbsp;is revealing secrets of how biology works on molecular and microscopic levels and is essential for developing new medications.</strong></li>
</ul>
<p>In order to understand something &mdash; even&nbsp;if it's microscopic and invisible, like a protein or a virus &mdash; you need to know what it looks like.</p>
<p>A recently developed technique called cryo-electron microscopy creates 3D visualizations of biological molecules like proteins, DNA, and RNA, making them visible in ways previously thought impossible. Three scientists &mdash; Jacques Dubochet, Joachim Frank, and Richard Henderson &mdash; were awarded the 2017 Nobel prize in chemistry Wednesday for their work developing&nbsp;the method, which has&nbsp;given&nbsp;scientists an unprecedented look at what the Nobel prize committee&nbsp;<a href="https://www.nobelprize.org/nobel_prizes/chemistry/laureates/2017/press.html">described</a>&nbsp;as "life's molecular machinery."</p>
<p>Being able to see the twists, turns, and shapes of molecules can reveal what types of drugs&nbsp;could help treat a virus or&nbsp;which medical molecule&nbsp;might fight a certain type of cancer. Just&nbsp;looking at these structures has filled in scientific knowledge gaps that existed for years.</p>
<p>Electron microscopy refers to the act of sending a beam of electrons at a small sample of a material. Unlike normal microscopes, which use light, beams of electrons can illuminate the tiniest of details in a structure, down the location of individual atoms.</p>
<p>The technique&nbsp;has existed since the 1930s,&nbsp;but many scientists didn't&nbsp;think it could be used&nbsp;to look at biomolecules for&nbsp;two main reasons. First, the force of the electron beam&nbsp;blasts biological material apart. Weakening the beam enough to keep molecules intact only creates&nbsp;a low-contrast, fuzzy image. Second, electron microscopes can't be used on anything that's in water, since the process evaporates that water. And without water&nbsp;(a main component of all cells), biological molecules collapse.</p>
<h2>Advances in the field</h2>
<p>In 1975, Richard Henderson, a molecular biologist who heads up a lab at Cambridge in the UK, used a weakened electron beam to capture a poor-contrast image of a protein. The protein was protected by a membrane, so didn't need to be kept in water.</p>
<p><img style="float:right;" src="http://static2.businessinsider.com/image/59d50f42351ccf83028b7f90-619/screen shot 2017-10-04 at 123924 pm.png" alt="Richard Henderson bacteriorhodopsin," data-mce-source="Image from Nature 257: 28-32" data-mce-caption="Richard Henderson's 1975 rough model of bacteriorhodopsin." />He and colleagues&nbsp;gathered&nbsp;images from a number of angles, then used a mathematical model to create the best picture yet of a protein generated with an electron microscope. You can see it on the right.&nbsp;</p>
<p>But&nbsp;the image didn't yet have the resolution Henderson wanted.</p>
<p>Meanwhile, Joachim Frank, a Columbia University professor&nbsp;originally from Germany, was working on ways to process the flat 2D images taken by electron microscopes. In the years between 1975 and 1986, he came up with a way to process a number of those fuzzy, flat images and turn them into sharper 3D models. The 3D versions could reveal the structure of a protein, advancing the technique Henderson had previously used.</p>
<p>In the 1980s, Swiss biophysicist&nbsp;Jacques Dubochet&nbsp;set to work solving another problem that was keeping scientists from creating images and models of biomolecules. He developed a way to "vitrify" water by cooling it so rapidly that it became a solid in its liquid form (without forming ice crystals). Essentially, he turned it into glass.</p>
<p>Put together, these&nbsp;developments set the stage for what would become known as cryo-electron microscopy, with "cryo" being the prefix for "cold."</p>
<p><img style="float:right;" src="http://static4.businessinsider.com/image/59d5150f351ccfd9008b8089-988/screen shot 2017-10-04 at 10443 pm.png" alt="Screen Shot 2017 10 04 at 1.04.43 PM" data-mce-source="Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences" data-mce-caption="Henderson's 1990 cryo-electron microscopy image of bacteriorhodopsin was far more detailed" /></p>
<h2>Cryo-electron microscopy revolution</h2>
<p>By 1990, Henderson was able to capture a far more detailed model of bacteriorhodopsin &mdash; the same protein in his original image &mdash; using cryo-electron microscopy.</p>
<p>The new image (right) was taken at true atomic resolution. And because of the techniques developed by Frank and Dubochet, it was possible to capture models like this of any sort of biomolecule, not only those protected by membranes.</p>
<p>The technique would get still more sophisticated, however.</p>
<p>New electron detectors and microscope technology eventually&nbsp;revealed&nbsp;far more than the uneven surface of a protein,&nbsp;including details of the atomic structure of the molecules. The difference is evident in the image below.</p>
<p><img src="http://static2.businessinsider.com/image/59d516d4c68d7b26008b77eb-1289/screen shot 2017-10-04 at 11304 pm.png" alt="cryo-electron microscopy" data-mce-source="Martin H&ouml;gbom/NobelPrize.org" data-mce-caption="The electron microscope&rsquo;s resolution has radically improved in the last few years, from mostly showing shapeless blobs to now being able to visualise proteins at atomic resolution" data-link="https://www.nobelprize.org/nobel_prizes/chemistry/laureates/2017/popular-chemistryprize2017.pdf" /></p>
<p>Now researchers turn to this technology immediately when they want to understand anything biological. For example, when researchers first noticed that&nbsp;something was causing&nbsp;microcephaly in newborn children, they found and imaged the Zika virus and its proteins to see if they could get a better&nbsp;sense of what was happening.</p>
<p><img src="http://static4.businessinsider.com/image/59d517c0351ccf89468b769a-1280/f1large.jpg" alt="Zika" data-mce-source="Sirohi et al, Science, 2016" data-mce-caption="Cryo-electron microscopy images of the Zika virus." data-link="http://science.sciencemag.org/content/early/2016/03/30/science.aaf5316/tab-figures-data" /></p>
<p>Creating these images helps researchers identify which components of the virus might be causing the negative effects&nbsp;&mdash; and that can&nbsp;allow them to develop&nbsp;ways to block those troublesome parts.</p>
<p><img src="http://static5.businessinsider.com/image/59d517dd351ccf20008b80f9-1280/f2large.jpg" alt="Zika proteins" data-mce-source="Sirohi et al, Science, 2016" data-mce-caption="Zika virus proteins." data-link="http://science.sciencemag.org/content/early/2016/03/30/science.aaf5316/tab-figures-data" /></p>
<p>The ability to do all this&nbsp;fundamentally&nbsp;transforms biochemistry, medicine, and our understanding of biology.</p>
<p>As the Swedish Academy wrote in their announcement of the Nobel Prize winners:</p>
<p style="padding-left: 30px;">"After Joachim Frank presented the strategy for his general image processing method in 1975, a researcher wrote: 'If such methods were to be perfected, then, in the words of one scientist, the sky would be the limit.'</p>
<p style="padding-left: 30px;">Now we are there &ndash; the sky is the limit. Jacques Dubochet, Joachim Frank and Richard Henderson have, through their research, brought 'the greatest benefit to mankind.' Each corner of the cell can be captured in atomic detail and biochemistry is all set for an exciting future."</p><p><strong>SEE ALSO:&nbsp;<a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/hall-rosbash-young-nobel-prize-physiology-medicine-circadian-clock-2017-10" >3 scientists just won the Nobel Prize for discovering how body clocks are regulated — here's why that's such a big deal</a></strong></p>
<p><a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/nobel-prize-chemistry-cryo-electron-microscopy-2017-10#comments">Join the conversation about this story &#187;</a></p> <p>NOW WATCH: <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/bowery-farms-indoor-farm-grows-365-days-a-year-less-water-2018-2">This indoor farm in New Jersey can grow 365 days a year and uses 95% less water than a typical farm</a></p> http://www.businessinsider.com/nobel-prize-chemistry-molecules-in-3d-2017-10The Nobel prize in chemistry goes to scientists who developed a way to see the molecules of life in 3Dhttp://www.businessinsider.com/nobel-prize-chemistry-molecules-in-3d-2017-10
Wed, 04 Oct 2017 10:27:00 -0400Sharon Begley
<p><img style="float:right;" src="http://static3.businessinsider.com/image/59d4e925351ccf1f008b7da9-2400/rts1f232.jpg" alt="RTS1F232" data-mce-source="TT News Agency/Reuters" data-mce-caption="The Nobel Committee announces the winners of the 2017 Nobel Prize in Chemistry during a press conference in Stockholm, Sweden, October 4, 2017." /></p><p>Three researchers who developed a way to see the basic molecules of life in three dimensions won the 2017 Nobel Prize in chemistry, the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences announced on Wednesday.</p>
<p>Jacques Dubochet of Switzerland&rsquo;s University of Lausanne, Joachim Frank of Columbia University in New York City, and Richard Henderson of the MRC Laboratory of Molecular Biology in England were honored &ldquo;for developing cryo-electron microscopy for the high-resolution structure determination of biomolecules in solution,&rdquo;&nbsp;said G&ouml;ran Hansson, secretary general of the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences, in announcing the prize in Stockholm.</p>
<p>Basically, cryo-EM lets biologists see what they&rsquo;re studying, from the surface of the Zika virus to human enzymes involved in disease. And that has big implications for drug development: Seeing&nbsp;<a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/27238019" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">the shape of a molecule</a>&nbsp;involved in cancer, for instance, can give scientists clues about the kind of molecule they need to create to disrupt the disease. The prize is therefore&nbsp;<a href="https://www.nobelprize.org/nobel_prizes/chemistry/laureates/2009/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">another example</a>&nbsp;of the chemistry Nobel honoring research that is squarely within biology.</p>
<p>&ldquo;This discovery is like the Google Earth for molecules in that it takes us down to the fine detail of atoms within proteins,&rdquo; Allison Campbell, president of the American Chemical Society, said. &ldquo;A picture truly is worth a thousand words, and the laureates&rsquo; discoveries are invaluable to our understanding of life and the development of new therapeutics.&rdquo;</p>
<p>&ldquo;I think this is a very exciting choice,&rdquo; Jeremy Berg, editor-in-chief of Science and former director of the National Institute for General Medical Sciences at the National Institutes of Health, told STAT.</p>
<p>Cryo-EM &ldquo;is truly revolutionizing biochemistry, particularly over the past five years,&rdquo; Berg said. Many of the structures it has revealed, often at an atomic level, &ldquo;are those of greatest interest to biologists, but have been difficult to reveal by other means,&rdquo; he said, including &ldquo;ion channels central to the function of the nervous system and the machinery for splicing RNA, essential for effective gene expression.&rdquo;</p>
<p>The three laureates worked independently, but their discoveries about how to prepare biological samples to have their picture taken, how to take the picture without destroying the sample, and how to turn the initial fuzzy image into something sharp converged to make cryo-EM today&rsquo;s go-to imaging technology.</p>
<p>Older microscopic techniques couldn&rsquo;t generate images of life&rsquo;s molecular machines; the cutting-edge technique of yore, electron microscopy, seemed to work only for seeing dead objects, since the electron beam destroys living things. But Frank, who said on Wednesday that he &ldquo;didn&rsquo;t mind&rdquo; receiving the early-morning call from Stockholm, developed a way to take the fuzzy 2-D images from electron microscopes and turn them into a sharp 3-D picture, the first step toward cryo-EM.</p>
<p><img class="float_left" src="http://static4.businessinsider.com/image/59d4ea0fc68d7bf8448b6b7a-2400/ap17277502836259.jpg" alt="richard henderson" data-mce-source="Frank Augstein/AP" data-mce-caption="Richard Henderson, one of the 2017 Nobel Prize winners in Chemistry, holds a bacterio rhodopsin model prior to a press conference at the Laboratory of Molecular Biology in Cambridge, England." />Ordinary electron microscopy makes biomolecules, which contain water, collapse. But in the 1970s Dubochet showed that adding water to electron microscopy in a certain way that prevented that. He cooled water so rapidly that it became a sort of solid liquid (more like glass than ice), forming a sort of cage around the biological sample. That cage helped the biomolecules keep their shape during the imaging.</p>
<p>(Dubochet is known not only for his discoveries but also for having one of science&rsquo;s more unusual&nbsp;<a href="https://www.unil.ch/dee/en/home/menuinst/people/honorary-professors/prof-jacques-dubochet.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">official CVs</a>, which starts with being &ldquo;conceived by optimistic parents&rdquo; in October 1941 and includes &ldquo;being the first official dyslexic in the canton of Vaud&rdquo; in 1955.)</p>
<p>Henderson showed that it is possible to freeze biomolecules &ldquo;mid-movement,&rdquo; the Nobel committee said, generating a three-dimensional image of a protein down to the atomic level. His&nbsp;<a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/2359127" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">breakthrough</a>&nbsp;came in 1990, when he used cryo-EM to reveal the 3-D structure of a bacterial protein called bacteriorhodopsin. That demonstration of what cryo-EM could achieve was &ldquo;decisive for both the basic understanding of life&rsquo;s chemistry and for the development of pharmaceuticals,&rdquo; the committee said.</p>
<p>In the new millennium, cryo-EM became the go-to technology for seeing the molecules of life, capturing everything from proteins that cause antibiotic resistance to the surface of the&nbsp;<a href="http://science.sciencemag.org/content/early/2016/03/30/science.aaf5316" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Zika virus</a>&nbsp;to&nbsp;<a href="https://www.ucsf.edu/news/2015/04/124956/first-look-wasabi-receptor-brings-insights-pain-drug-development" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">receptors</a>&nbsp;in human cells that sense the spiciness molecule in chili peppers. And biologists hope that by actually seeing what their drugs have to target, they might develop more effective medications more quickly: a&nbsp;<a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/26822609" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">study</a>&nbsp;last year, for instance, showed the atomic-level structure of an enzyme that, if disrupted, might fight cancer.</p>
<p>The three scientists will receive the Nobel Medal, Nobel Diploma, and a document confirming the Nobel Prize amount (9 million Swedish krona, about $1.1 million) from King Carl XVI Gustaf of Sweden at the annual Nobel ceremony in Stockholm on Dec. 10, along with the rest of this year&rsquo;s laureates.</p><p><strong>SEE ALSO:&nbsp;<a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/nobel-prize-for-physics-gravitational-waves-2017-10" >Three scientists who helped discover gravitational waves just won the Nobel prize in physics</a></strong></p>
<p><a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/nobel-prize-chemistry-molecules-in-3d-2017-10#comments">Join the conversation about this story &#187;</a></p> <p>NOW WATCH: <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/2017-nobel-prize-in-physics-gravitational-waves-kip-thorne-rainer-weiss-barry-barish-2017-10">Scientists won the Nobel Prize for detecting gravitational waves — here's why that matters</a></p> http://www.businessinsider.com/why-coffee-tastes-better-when-you-buy-it-from-a-coffee-shop-2017-9Science explains why coffee tastes better when you buy it from a coffee shophttp://www.businessinsider.com/why-coffee-tastes-better-when-you-buy-it-from-a-coffee-shop-2017-9
Fri, 29 Sep 2017 16:31:58 -0400Christopher H. Hendon
<p><img src="http://static4.businessinsider.com/image/59ce9e0ec68d7b701c8b5b31-2400/gettyimages-456344408.jpg" alt="GettyImages 456344408" data-mce-source="Joe Raedle/Getty Images" /></p><p></p>
<ul>
<li><strong>Coffee from a cafe tastes different than home-brewed for a number of reasons: the type of brew, water, grind, and freshness of the bean.</strong></li>
<li><strong>There are two families of coffee brews&nbsp;and depending on which you use, you need to control temperature and time to extract the best flavors.</strong></li>
<li><strong>The&nbsp;water's levels of calcium ions and bicarbonate (whether your water is hard or soft) can affect the sourness of the coffee. You can't control your tap water.</strong></li>
<li><strong>Roasted coffee contains&nbsp;of CO2 and other volatiles&nbsp;which affect flavor &mdash; but they decrease over time, so most cafes only use beans four weeks after their roasting date.</strong></li>
</ul>
<p>Coffee is unique among artisanal beverages in that the brewer plays a significant role in its quality at the point of consumption.</p>
<p>In contrast, drinkers buy draft beer and wine as finished products; their only consumer-controlled variable is the temperature at which you drink them.</p>
<p>Why is it that coffee produced by a barista at a cafe always tastes different than the same beans brewed at home?</p>
<p>It may be down to their years of training, but more likely it's their ability to harness the principles of chemistry and physics. I am a materials chemist by day, and many of the physical considerations I apply to other solids apply here.</p>
<p>The variables of temperature, water chemistry, particle size distribution, ratio of water to coffee, time and, perhaps most importantly, the quality of the green coffee all play crucial roles in producing a tasty cup. It's how we control these variables that allows for that cup to be reproducible.</p>
<h2>How strong a cup of joe?</h2>
<p>Besides the psychological and environmental contributions to why a barista-prepared cup of coffee tastes so good in the cafe, we need to consider the brew method itself.</p>
<p>We humans seem to like drinks that contain coffee constituents (organic acids, Maillard products, esters and heterocycles, to name a few) at 1.2-1.5%&nbsp;by mass (as in filter coffee), and also favor drinks containing 8-10% by mass (as in espresso). <a href="https://www.elsevier.com/books/espresso-coffee/illy/978-0-12-370371-2">Concentrations outside of these ranges</a> are challenging to execute. There are a limited number of technologies that achieve 8-10% concentrations, the espresso machine being the most familiar.</p>
<p>There are many ways, though, to achieve a drink containing 1.2-1.5% coffee. A pour-over, Turkish, Arabic, Aeropress, French press, siphon or batch brew (that is, regular drip) apparatus &mdash; each produces coffee that tastes good around these concentrations. These brew methods also boast an advantage over their espresso counterpart: They are cheap. An espresso machine can produce a beverage of this concentration: the Americano, which is just an espresso shot diluted with water to the concentration of filter coffee.</p>
<p>All of these methods result in roughly the same amount of coffee in the cup. So why can they taste so different?</p>
<p><img src="http://static4.businessinsider.com/image/59ce9f0ec68d7b0b028b5f77-2400/gettyimages-122182201.jpg" alt="GettyImages 122182201" data-mce-source="Justin Sullivan/Getty Images" /></p>
<h2>When coffee meets water</h2>
<p>There are two families of brewing device within the low-concentration methods &mdash; those that fully immerse the coffee in the brew water, and those that flow the water through the coffee bed.</p>
<p>From a physical perspective, the major difference is that the temperature of the coffee particulates is higher in the full immersion system.</p>
<p>The slowest part of coffee extraction is not the rate at which compounds dissolve from the particulate surface. Rather, it's the <a href="https://doi.org/10.1002/jsfa.2740460313">speed at which coffee flavor moves through the solid particle</a> to the water-coffee interface, and this speed is increased with temperature.</p>
<p>A higher particulate temperature means that more of the tasty compounds trapped within the coffee particulates will be extracted.</p>
<p>But higher temperature also lets more of the unwanted compounds dissolve in the water, too. The Specialty Coffee Association presents a<span>&nbsp;</span><a href="http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/1750-3841.13555/full">flavor wheel</a> to help us talk about these flavors &mdash; from green/vegetative or papery/musty through to brown sugar or dried fruit.</p>
<p>Pour-overs and other flow-through systems are more complex. Unlike full immersion methods where time is controlled, flow-through brew times depend on the grind size since the grounds control the flow rate.</p>
<p>The water-to-coffee ratio matters, too, in the brew time. Simply grinding more fine to increase extraction invariably changes the brew time, as the water seeps more slowly through finer grounds.</p>
<p>One can increase the water-to-coffee ratio by using less coffee, but as the mass of coffee is reduced, the brew time also decreases. Optimization of filter coffee brewing is hence multidimensional and more tricky than full immersion methods.</p>
<h2>Other variables to try to control</h2>
<p>Even if you can optimize your brew method and apparatus to precisely mimic your favorite barista, there is still a near-certain chance that your home brew will taste different from the cafe's. There are three subtleties that have tremendous impact on the coffee quality: water chemistry, particle size distribution produced by the grinder and coffee freshness.</p>
<p>First, water chemistry: Given coffee is an acidic beverage, the acidity of your brew water can have a big effect.</p>
<p>Brew water containing low levels of both calcium ions and bicarbonate (HCO₃⁻) &mdash; that is, soft water &mdash; will result in a highly acidic cup, sometimes described as sour. Brew water containing high levels of HCO₃⁻ &mdash; typically, hard water &mdash; will produce a chalky cup, as the bicarbonate has neutralized most of the flavorsome acids in the coffee.</p>
<p>Ideally we want to <a href="https://www.elsevier.com/books/the-craft-and-science-of-coffee/folmer/978-0-12-803520-7">brew coffee with water</a><span>&nbsp;</span><a href="https://waterforcoffeebook.com/">containing chemistry somewhere in the middle</a>. But there's a good chance you don't know the bicarbonate concentration in your own tap water, and a small change makes a big difference. To taste the impact, try brewing coffee with Evian &mdash; one of the highest bicarbonate concentration bottled waters, at 360 mg/L.</p>
<p><img src="http://static4.businessinsider.com/image/59cea03c351ccf21008b65e1-2400/gettyimages-2687145.jpg" alt="GettyImages 2687145" data-mce-source="Carlo Allegri/Getty Images" /></p>
<p>The particle size distribution your grinder produces is critical, too.</p>
<p>Every coffee enthusiast will rightly tell you that blade grinders are disfavored because they produce a seemingly random particle size distribution; there can be both powder and essentially whole coffee beans coexisting. The alternative, a burr grinder, features two pieces of metal with teeth that cut the coffee into progressively smaller pieces. They allow ground particulates through an aperture only once they are small enough.</p>
<p>There is <a href="https://doi.org/10.1038/srep24483">contention over how to optimize grind settings</a> when using a burr grinder, though. One school of thought supports grinding the coffee as fine as possible to maximize the surface area, which lets you extract the most delicious flavors in higher concentrations.</p>
<p>The rival school advocates grinding as coarse as possible to minimize the production of fine particles that impart negative flavors. Perhaps the most useful advice here is to determine what you like best based on your taste preference.</p>
<p>Finally, the freshness of the coffee itself is crucial. Roasted coffee contains a significant amount of CO₂ and other <a href="https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1745-4557.2006.00093.x">volatiles trapped within the solid coffee matrix</a>: Over time these gaseous organic molecules will escape the bean. Fewer volatiles means a less flavorful cup of coffee. Most cafes will not serve coffee more than four weeks out from the roast date, emphasizing the importance of using freshly roasted beans.</p>
<p>One can mitigate the rate of staling by cooling the coffee (as described by <a href="https://chem.libretexts.org/Core/Physical_and_Theoretical_Chemistry/Kinetics/Modeling_Reaction_Kinetics/Temperature_Dependence_of_Reaction_Rates/The_Arrhenius_Law/Arrhenius_Equation">the Arrhenius equation</a>). While you shouldn't chill your coffee in an open vessel (unless you want fish finger brews), storing coffee in an airtight container in the freezer will significantly prolong freshness.</p>
<p>So don't feel bad that your carefully brewed cup of coffee at home never stacks up to what you buy at the cafe.</p>
<p>There are a lot of variables &mdash; scientific and otherwise &mdash; that must be wrangled to produce a single superlative cup. Take comfort that most of these variables are not optimized by some <a href="https://doi.org/10.1137/15M1036658">mathematical</a><span>&nbsp;</span><a href="https://doi.org/10.1186/s13362-016-0024-6">algorithm</a>, but rather by somebody's tongue. What's most important is that your coffee tastes good to you&hellip; brew after brew.</p>
<script type="text/javascript" src="https://theconversation.com/javascripts/lib/content_tracker_hook.js" id="theconversation_tracker_hook" data-counter="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/84473/count?distributor=republish-lightbox-advanced" async="async"></script><p><strong>SEE ALSO:&nbsp;<a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/some-doctors-criticize-medical-school-homeopathy-donation-2017-9" >A California medical school just got $200 million to invest in 'energy healing,' 'mineral infusions' and other alternative medicines — and doctors aren't happy</a></strong></p>
<p><a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/why-coffee-tastes-better-when-you-buy-it-from-a-coffee-shop-2017-9#comments">Join the conversation about this story &#187;</a></p> <p>NOW WATCH: <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/jake-bernstein-panama-papers-offshore-banking-shell-companies-2018-2">How the super-wealthy hide billions using tax havens and shell companies</a></p> http://www.businessinsider.com/scientists-may-be-able-to-discover-new-drugs-by-challenging-organisms-with-clusters-of-random-chemistry-2017-9Scientists may be able to discover new drugs by 'challenging' organisms with clusters of random chemistryhttp://www.businessinsider.com/scientists-may-be-able-to-discover-new-drugs-by-challenging-organisms-with-clusters-of-random-chemistry-2017-9
Sun, 17 Sep 2017 21:48:00 -0400Kevin M. Folta
<p><img style="float:right;" src="http://static4.businessinsider.com/image/59bf250138d20d1f008b7392-800/university-of-vienna-berkeley-appeal-gene-editing-patent-ruling-2017-4.jpg" alt="FILE PHOTO: A DNA double helix is seen in an undated artist's illustration released by the National Human Genome Research Institute to Reuters on May 15, 2012. REUTERS/National Human Genome Research Institute/Handout/File Photo " data-mce-source="Thomson Reuters" data-mce-caption="FILE PHOTO: A DNA double helix is seen in an undated artist's illustration released by the National Human Genome Research Institute to Reuters" /></p><p>I was cutting my grass when the battery in my iPod died.</p>
<p>Instead of enjoying the distraction of music, my brain switched to its usual nerd mode of thinking about molecules. Within a few passes of cut grass, I was pondering the biggest &ldquo;Why not?&rdquo; of my scientific career: Could we discover new drugs and useful agricultural compounds by challenging organisms with clusters of random chemistry?</p>
<p>My background is in molecular biology &ndash; the study of DNA, genes and how an organism&rsquo;s blueprints are decoded and assembled into life. The discipline requires an understanding of how molecular codes are deciphered and turned into functional biology. Anyone in this field is plagued with dreams of dancing molecules, interacting and performing the roles that turn DNA information into our food, the plants in our environment and our families.</p>
<p>Every day in the lab we move genes around. It&rsquo;s easy. Not meant to generate new products for consumers, moving DNA is used as a research tool that lets us understand how specific genes work. A classic example is&nbsp;the NPR1 gene&nbsp;from the model plant&nbsp;Arabidopsis; it&rsquo;s a defense gene that confers enhanced tolerance to disease when you drop it into almost any plant&rsquo;s genome. Manipulating genetic information &ndash; in plants, microbes and some animals &ndash; is commonplace.</p>
<p>On that half-cut lawn it occurred to me &ndash; instead of inserting DNA information we understand, what if we introduced a scrambled mess of random DNA code into a plant or bacterium? Could we identify random bits of genetic information that could give rise to small proteins (called peptides) that change an organism&rsquo;s physiology or development?</p>
<p>Normally DNA encodes instructions that coordinate the order of the amino acid building blocks in a protein. Each amino acid has specific chemical characteristics. Strung together in a peptide chain, they fold into a protein that provides cellular structure or function, based on the complementary chemistries of its amino acid components.</p>
<p>My hypothesis was that a short, scrambled DNA message could give rise to a novel string of amino acids. This would be a small cluster of discrete chemistry that likely never existed before on the planet. The vast majority of the time it would be meaningless and just become cellular rubbish. But maybe on rare occasion it could do something new and desirable.</p>
<p>To test the hypothesis, our research team used randomized templates to synthesize trillions of random DNA fragments using simple DNA amplification techniques. Each was flanked by the genetic instructions to start and stop production of a peptide inside the plant.</p>
<p>Then we used standard genetic engineering techniques to insert a novel DNA sequence into thousands of individual<span>&nbsp;</span><em>Arabidopsis thaliana</em><span>&nbsp;</span>plants &ndash; and sat back to watch what would happen when the plants turned the random genetic information into little random peptides. We were hoping for cases where specific protein structures might find a connection with biological chemistry and we&rsquo;d see the result in the plants themselves.</p>
<p>As the plants grew, we were blown away by what we observed.</p>
<p>Some plants were flowering early. Others were small and stunted. Others grew larger leaves. Some were loaded with healthy purple pigments. Still others grew up to a point&hellip;then died.</p>
<p>We then retrieved the particular random DNA sequence we&rsquo;d added to each, a simple feat for a molecular biologist, and inserted the same sequence into new plants. Most of the time the random information affected the new generation of plants in exactly the same way, demonstrating that something was indeed happening related to the added, garbled information. We<span>&nbsp;</span><a href="https://doi.org/10.1104/pp.17.00577">recently published our results</a><span>&nbsp;</span>in the journal Plant Physiology.</p>
<p>What is this random information doing inside the cell? The small random molecules generated from the inserted DNA instructions could affect a specific process, just by chance. They could bind a needed nutrient. They might inhibit a key enzyme. They could turn on flowering or protect a plant from freezing. Nobody really knows exactly how until the plants are examined in detail one by one. These new proteins may also be good models to design new useful molecules with similar chemical properties, but that are more durable in the cell. Our goal is to produce a compound that may be applied to crops to change the way plants grow and behave, or perhaps stop the growth of invasive or weedy plants.</p>
<p>The process is like throwing monkey wrenches into a complicated machine. Most of the time they clank around and affect nothing; but once in a long while a wrench catches in some critical gears and brings the machine to a halt. Other times the wrench might short-circuit a wasteful process, allowing the machine to run more efficiently. These peptides are molecular monkey wrenches.</p>
<p>Some of these peptides must interfere with an important biological process because they kill the plant. These findings bring to light new vulnerabilities in plants that researchers could exploit to develop environmentally friendly and nontoxic herbicides. Agriculture currently relies on a few relatively old chemistries, cultivation (using fossil fuels) or human labor to control the weeds that compete with food plants for resources. Good weed control means that valuable fertilizers, water and sunlight go only to the desired plants, rather than weeds. So new herbicide chemistries would be extremely valuable as farmers work to produce food for growing populations.</p>
<p>But why stop at plants? We are using the same approach to discover the next generation of antibiotics. The goal is to identify random information that affects a single species of problematic bacterium. For instance, we could potentially target<span>&nbsp;</span><em>S. aureus</em>, the antibiotic-resistant bacteria that causes MRSA. We are hunting for new molecules that could destroy MRSA-related bacteria while leaving the rest of the microbiome unaffected. These experiments are underway in our lab.</p>
<p>Randomness may pinpoint undiscovered vulnerabilities or opportunities in plants, bacteria and other organisms. There even may be applications in solving human disease. The future is exciting as we mine the vast collections of new molecules and study how they integrate with biology to produce important desired outcomes.</p>
<p>Several of the molecules we&rsquo;ve already identified slow plant growth. Future products from this technology might even be applied to make lawns grow more slowly. While others may find this advance helpful, I&rsquo;ll have to skip using it. Cutting the grass gets my good ideas flowing.</p>
<script type="text/javascript" src="https://theconversation.com/javascripts/lib/content_tracker_hook.js" id="theconversation_tracker_hook" data-counter="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/83550/count?distributor=republish-lightbox-advanced" async="async"></script><p><a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/scientists-may-be-able-to-discover-new-drugs-by-challenging-organisms-with-clusters-of-random-chemistry-2017-9#comments">Join the conversation about this story &#187;</a></p> <p>NOW WATCH: <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/tesla-model-3-best-worst-features-elon-musk-2018-2">The best and worst things about the Tesla Model 3</a></p> http://www.businessinsider.com/gold-price-chemistry-science-currency-destiny-2017-8The chemical reason gold makes a perfect currencyhttp://www.businessinsider.com/gold-price-chemistry-science-currency-destiny-2017-8
Sun, 20 Aug 2017 15:03:00 -0400Frank Holmes
<p><img style="float:right;" src="http://static1.businessinsider.com/image/59959e2af1a85026008b59e2-926/gettyimages-106658212.jpg" alt="Gold bars melting foundry" data-mce-source="Kevork Djansezian/Getty Images" data-mce-caption="Sergio Alexander pours molten gold to make a 6.5 kg bar of gold at his melting laboratory on November 9, 2010 in Los Angeles, California. Price of gold rose to record high of $1400 per ounce on speculation that European governments may struggle to pay debt, boosting demand for the precious metal as an alternative to currencies." /></p><p>I think most of you reading this right now are aware that <a href="http://markets.businessinsider.com/commodities/gold-price">gold</a> is unlike any other metal, certainly any other element.</p>
<p>It doesn&rsquo;t play by the same rules as iron or tin or aluminum, and its value has nothing to do with its utility&mdash;or lack thereof. People valued the yellow metal for its beauty and malleability eons before they knew of its usefulness in conducting electricity or its chemical inertness.</p>
<p>That gold is so chemically &ldquo;boring,&rdquo; though, is one of the main reasons <em>why</em> it&rsquo;s so highly valued, even today.</p>
<p>This is the conclusion of Andrea Sella, distinguished professor of chemistry at University College London. In 2013, Sella spoke with Justin Rowlatt of the BBC World Service, walking him through all 118 elements of the periodic table.</p>
<p>Gold, according to Sella, is the <a href="http://www.bbc.com/news/magazine-25255957">best possible candidate for a currency of any value.</a></p>
<p>As he points out, we can automatically eliminate whole swaths of the periodic table for various reasons. We can cross out gases, halogens, and liquids such as helium, fluorine and mercury. No one wants to carry around vials of a colorless gas or, in the case of mercury and bromine, a poisonous substance.</p>
<p>We can then rule out alkaline earth metals such as magnesium and barium for being too reactive and explosive. Carcinogenic, radioactive elements such as uranium and plutonium are too impractical, as are synthetic elements that exist only momentarily in lab experiments&mdash;seaborgium and einsteinium, for example.</p>
<p>That leaves us with the 49 transition and post-transition metals: titanium, nickel, tin, lead, aluminum and more.</p>
<p>But many of these pose problems that should immediately exclude them from consideration as a currency. Most are too hard to smelt (titanium), too flimsy for coinage (aluminum), too corrosive (copper) and/or too plentiful (iron).</p>
<p>We are now left with just eight candidates, the noble metals: platinum, palladium, rhodium, iridium, osmium, ruthenium, silver and gold. These are all attractive as currencies, but except for silver and gold, they&rsquo;re simply <em>too</em> rare.</p>
<p>So: silver and gold.</p>
<p>What gives gold the edge over silver, however, is&mdash;once again&mdash;its chemical inertness. Unlike its white cousin, gold doesn&rsquo;t tarnish. It&rsquo;s nonreactive to air and water. Add to this its softness, and it easily emerges as the perfect currency. Ancient peoples recognized this, and I don&rsquo;t think anyone now would have any problem coming to the same conclusion either.</p>
<p>&ldquo;I view gold as the primary global currency.&rdquo;</p>
<p>Those are the words of former Fed Chairman Alan Greenspan, speaking to the World Gold Council for the <a href="http://www.gold.org/research/gold-investor">2017 winter edition of its <em>Gold Investor</em> publication.</a></p>
<p>&ldquo;It is the only currency, along with silver, that does not require a counterparty signature. Gold, however, has always been far more valuable per ounce than silver. No one refuses gold as payment to discharge an obligation. Credit instruments and fiat currency depend on the credit worthiness of a counterparty. Gold, along with silver, is one of the only currencies that has an intrinsic value. It has always been that way. No one questions its value, and it has always been a valuable commodity, first coined in Asia Minor in 600 BC.&rdquo;</p>
<p>Right now, for the first time in human history, world currencies are free-floating, meaning they&rsquo;re not backed by anything tangible.</p>
<p>It&rsquo;s largely because of this that world debt has been allowed to <a href="http://www.usfunds.com/investor-library/frank-talk/mother-of-all-bubbles-keeps-gold-in-focus">soar to astronomical highs in recent years,</a> threatening the stability of the global economy. As we&rsquo;ve seen in Zimbabwe, Venezuela and elsewhere, a nation&rsquo;s currency can rapidly lose its value and become worthless. Families and individuals who didn&rsquo;t have a portion of their wealth stored in a real asset such as gold lost everything.</p>
<p>This is why I always recommend a 10 percent weighting in gold, with 5 percent in physical gold (coins, bars and jewelry) and the other 5 percent in high-quality gold stocks, mutual funds and ETFs.</p><p><strong>SEE ALSO:&nbsp;<a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/the-mother-of-all-bubbles-keeps-gold-in-focus-2017-7" >The 'mother of all bubbles' is keeping gold in focus</a></strong></p>
<p><a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/gold-price-chemistry-science-currency-destiny-2017-8#comments">Join the conversation about this story &#187;</a></p> <p>NOW WATCH: <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/why-nasa-has-not-sent-humans-to-mars-2018-2">The surprising reason why NASA hasn't sent humans to Mars yet</a></p> http://www.businessinsider.com/what-chemicals-are-in-an-all-natural-banana-2017-6A man made a genius ingredient label for popular fruits and revealed why the term 'chemical-free' is meaninglesshttp://www.businessinsider.com/what-chemicals-are-in-an-all-natural-banana-2017-6
Thu, 06 Jul 2017 08:06:00 -0400Dina Spector
<p><img src="http://static4.businessinsider.com/image/593250b04cb1e422376acf8a-1197/banana 2.jpg" alt="Banana" data-mce-source="James Kennedy" data-link="https://jameskennedymonash.wordpress.com/2013/12/12/ingredients-of-an-all-natural-banana/" /></p><p>The idea that there is a difference between "natural" chemicals &mdash; like those in <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/foods-groceries-doctor-buys-avoids-2017-6">fruits and vegetables</a>&nbsp;&mdash; and the synthetic version of <a href="http://uk.businessinsider.com/natural-vs-artificial-flavors-difference-2017-2">those chemicals produced in a laboratory is a common misconception</a>.</p>
<p>Marketers often feed off consumer concerns that "human-made" chemicals are bad. But the fact is that all foods, and everything around us, are made up of chemicals, whether they occur in nature or are made in a lab.</p>
<p>Australian chemistry teacher James Kennedy wanted to dispel the myth that chemicals are bad for us. He created an ingredient list for natural products, like the banana above, to show that there are many chemicals in our food's natural flavors and colors. And some of them have long, scary-sounding names, too.</p>
<p>"There&rsquo;s a tendency for advertisers to use the words 'pure' and 'simple' to describe 'natural' products when they couldn&rsquo;t be more wrong," <a href="https://jameskennedymonash.wordpress.com/category/infographics/all-natural-banana-and-other-fruits/">Kennedy writes on his blog</a>."As a Chemistry teacher, I want to erode the fear that many people have of 'chemicals' and demonstrate that nature evolves compounds,</p>
<p>He adds: "As a Chemistry teacher, I want to erode the fear that many people have of 'chemicals' and demonstrate that nature evolves compounds, mechanisms and structures far more complicated and unpredictable than anything we can produce in the lab.</p>
<p>You can see more "all-natural" posters below, and <a href="https://jameskennedymonash.wordpress.com/">head over to&nbsp;Kennedy's blog</a> to check out all of his great infographics, <a href="http://jameskennedymonash.wordpress.com/2013/12/16/infographic-table-of-esters-and-their-smells-v2-200-smells/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">like a table of esters and their smells</a>.<img src="http://static5.businessinsider.com/image/593250b04cb1e422376acf8b-604/lemon.jpg" alt="Lemon" data-mce-source="James Kennedy" data-link="https://jameskennedymonash.wordpress.com/" /></p>
<p><img src="http://static6.businessinsider.com/image/593250b04cb1e422376acf8c-604/coffee bean.png" alt="Coffee Bean" data-mce-source="James Kennedy" data-link="https://jameskennedymonash.wordpress.com/" /><img src="http://static4.businessinsider.com/image/593250b04cb1e422376acf8d-604/cherry.jpeg" alt="Cherry" data-mce-source="James Kennedy" data-link="https://jameskennedymonash.wordpress.com/" /><img src="http://static6.businessinsider.com/image/593250b04cb1e422376acf8e-604/pineapple.jpg" alt="Pineapple" data-mce-source="James Kennedy" data-link="https://jameskennedymonash.wordpress.com/" /><img src="http://static2.businessinsider.com/image/593250b04cb1e422376acf8f-604/peach.jpg" alt="Peach" data-mce-source="James Kennedy" data-link="https://jameskennedymonash.wordpress.com/" /><img src="http://static5.businessinsider.com/image/593250b04cb1e422376acf90-604/strawberry.jpg" alt="Strawberry" data-mce-source="James Kennedy" data-link="https://jameskennedymonash.wordpress.com/" /></p><p><strong>SEE ALSO:&nbsp;<a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/gmo-controversy-beginning-fruit-2017-6" >This Cornell scientist saved an $11-million industry — and ignited the GMO wars</a></strong></p>
<p><strong>DON'T MISS:&nbsp;<a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/foods-groceries-doctor-buys-avoids-2017-6" >These are the 'health' foods a doctor avoids — and the ones she buys instead</a></strong></p>
<p><a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/what-chemicals-are-in-an-all-natural-banana-2017-6#comments">Join the conversation about this story &#187;</a></p> <p>NOW WATCH: <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/peter-diamandis-how-silicon-valley-can-make-100-new-60-2018-2">What Silicon Valley is doing to make humans live longer</a></p> http://www.businessinsider.com/how-do-fireworks-work-the-chemistry-of-fireworks-2017-6Here's how your Fourth of July fireworks workhttp://www.businessinsider.com/how-do-fireworks-work-the-chemistry-of-fireworks-2017-6
Tue, 04 Jul 2017 08:45:00 -0400Lydia Ramsey and Mike Nudelman
<p><img style="float:right;" src="http://static2.businessinsider.com/image/57718c8a910584e73c8cbbc3-1776/gettyimages-81209703.jpg" alt="Fireworks over Bk Bridge" data-mce-source="Spencer Platt / Getty Images" /></p><p>A Fourth of July celebration wouldn't be complete without big bursts of colorful explosives lighting up the summer sky at dusk.</p>
<p>And while you're taking in the big show, you might be wondering: How exactly do&nbsp;fireworks work? How is it that there are fabulous, colorful explosions in the sky that&nbsp;can be shaped into anything from smiley faces to hearts?</p>
<p>We're here to&nbsp;fill you in. The short answer? It's a whole&nbsp;lot of chemical reactions happening at once.</p>
<h2>It all boils down to an explosion</h2>
<p>Simply, a&nbsp;firework is a container &mdash; typically a tube or a ball shape &mdash; that holds&nbsp;explosives hitched up to a time-delay fuse.</p>
<p>The explosives are where the fun happens. They typically contain little balls of colored explosives called "stars." These are filled with colors that blaze brightly in the sky, but after only a certain amount of time has passed. This is why fireworks&nbsp;can get up high in the sky before exploding into brilliance.</p>
<p><span>When the fuse gets low enough in the firework, it reacts with a bursting charge, which in turn lights the explosives that will disperse the stars.&nbsp;</span>The ignited explosive creates a high-pressure gas that blows&nbsp;the colorful stars outward.</p>
<p>Here's what that looks like:<img src="http://static1.businessinsider.com/image/5953d9c5d084cc42238b5e0d/how-fireworks-work-animation05.gif" alt="How fireworks work animation_05" data-mce-source="Mike Nudelman/Business Insider" /></p>
<h2>Chemical reactions create the colors</h2>
<p>The colors that sparkle in the sky are chemical reactions happening right before your eyes.</p>
<p>Inside every star is an&nbsp;oxidizing agent, fuel, a certain metal that acts as the color, and a binder that holds it all together. The fuel and oxidizing agent are the parts responsible for the intense heat and gas of the explosion, <a href="https://www.acs.org/content/dam/acsorg/education/resources/highschool/chemmatters/articlesbytopic/oxidationandreduction/chemmatters-oct2010-fireworks.pdf">according to the American Chemical Society</a>.</p>
<p>But the coolest part is the metals that act as the colors. Some just heat up and cycle through red, orange, yellow, and white, depending on how hot the explosion is.&nbsp;The heat makes the atoms inside the wire move faster and faster, causing the atoms to bump into each other more, which gives off light. If you can control the temperature of the firework, then you can pick the exact time you want that firework to be a certain color.</p>
<p>But more commonly,&nbsp;fireworks create light by letting off specific colors that depend based on what metals you add to the mix.</p>
<p>For a complete display, fireworks often mix different metals and metal salts to give you the vibrant, multicolored effects. Calcium salts will burn orange, while sodium salts will burn yellow.</p>
<p>And if&nbsp;you burn copper, it'll give off light that's blue-green.</p>
<p><img src="http://static2.businessinsider.com/image/53ab349e69bedddc53c768aa/burning%20copper.gif" alt="burning copper" border="0" /></p>
<h2>The shapes are the product of some careful organization</h2>
<p>Fascinated by that smiley face or oddly lopsided heart in a&nbsp;firework display? It's nothing more than some careful organization of the stars. If they're just spread randomly, they'll expand out evenly through the sky once they explode.</p>
<p>But, because the explosion will push the stars out in a predictable trajectory, it is possible to&nbsp;organize the stars in a particular pattern on the cardboard cylinder on the outside of the firework. This will create specific shapes.</p>
<h2>The big, booming sound comes from expanding gases</h2>
<p>No fireworks display would be complete without the ear-shattering booms that freak out dogs and resonate in our chests. That's caused by&nbsp;a sonic boom that happens as the gases inside the firework expand faster than the speed of sound.</p>
<p>Throw all of these explosives and awesome chemistry together and you get this:</p>
<p><img src="http://static3.businessinsider.com/image/53ab386deab8ea9822084285/colorful fireworks.gif" alt="colorful fireworks" border="0" /></p>
<p><em>Jennifer Welsh contributed to an <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/how-do-fireworks-work-2014-6">earlier version</a> of this article.</em></p><p><strong>SEE ALSO:&nbsp;<a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/what-would-happen-if-yellowstone-supervolcano-erupted-2017-6" >A deadly supervolcano lies under Yellowstone — here's what would happen if it erupted</a></strong></p>
<p><strong>DON'T MISS:&nbsp;<a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/diet-and-exercise-and-alzheimers-risk-2017-6" >The simple way to understand how your diet might influence your risk of Alzheimer’s disease</a></strong></p>
<p><a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/how-do-fireworks-work-the-chemistry-of-fireworks-2017-6#comments">Join the conversation about this story &#187;</a></p> <p>NOW WATCH: <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/paintings-made-with-fireworks-2015-12">This artist makes paintings with firecracker explosions</a></p> http://www.businessinsider.com/how-do-fireworks-work-the-chemistry-of-fireworks-2017-6Here's how your Fourth of July fireworks workhttp://www.businessinsider.com/how-do-fireworks-work-the-chemistry-of-fireworks-2017-6
Fri, 30 Jun 2017 08:45:00 -0400Lydia Ramsey and Mike Nudelman
<p><img style="float:right;" src="http://static2.businessinsider.com/image/57718c8a910584e73c8cbbc3-1776/gettyimages-81209703.jpg" alt="Fireworks over Bk Bridge" data-mce-source="Spencer Platt / Getty Images" /></p><p>A Fourth of July celebration wouldn't be complete without big bursts of colorful explosives lighting up the summer sky at dusk.</p>
<p>And while you're taking in the big show, you might be wondering: How exactly do&nbsp;fireworks work? How is it that there are fabulous, colorful explosions in the sky that&nbsp;can be shaped into anything from smiley faces to hearts?</p>
<p>We're here to&nbsp;fill you in. The short answer? It's a whole&nbsp;lot of chemical reactions happening at once.</p>
<h2>It all boils down to an explosion</h2>
<p>Simply, a&nbsp;firework is a container &mdash; typically a tube or a ball shape &mdash; that holds&nbsp;explosives hitched up to a time-delay fuse.</p>
<p>The explosives are where the fun happens. They typically contain little balls of colored explosives called "stars." These are filled with colors that blaze brightly in the sky, but after only a certain amount of time has passed. This is why fireworks&nbsp;can get up high in the sky before exploding into brilliance.</p>
<p><span>When the fuse gets low enough in the firework, it reacts with a bursting charge, which in turn lights the explosives that will disperse the stars.&nbsp;</span>The ignited explosive creates a high-pressure gas that blows&nbsp;the colorful stars outward.</p>
<p>Here's what that looks like:<img src="http://static1.businessinsider.com/image/5953d9c5d084cc42238b5e0d/how-fireworks-work-animation05.gif" alt="How fireworks work animation_05" data-mce-source="Mike Nudelman/Business Insider" /></p>
<h2>Chemical reactions create the colors</h2>
<p>The colors that sparkle in the sky are chemical reactions happening right before your eyes.</p>
<p>Inside every star is an&nbsp;oxidizing agent, fuel, a certain metal that acts as the color, and a binder that holds it all together. The fuel and oxidizing agent are the parts responsible for the intense heat and gas of the explosion, <a href="https://www.acs.org/content/dam/acsorg/education/resources/highschool/chemmatters/articlesbytopic/oxidationandreduction/chemmatters-oct2010-fireworks.pdf">according to the American Chemical Society</a>.</p>
<p>But the coolest part is the metals that act as the colors. Some just heat up and cycle through red, orange, yellow, and white, depending on how hot the explosion is.&nbsp;The heat makes the atoms inside the wire move faster and faster, causing the atoms to bump into each other more, which gives off light. If you can control the temperature of the firework, then you can pick the exact time you want that firework to be a certain color.</p>
<p>But more commonly,&nbsp;fireworks create light by letting off specific colors that depend based on what metals you add to the mix.</p>
<p>For a complete display, fireworks often mix different metals and metal salts to give you the vibrant, multicolored effects. Calcium salts will burn orange, while sodium salts will burn yellow.</p>
<p>And if&nbsp;you burn copper, it'll give off light that's blue-green.</p>
<p><img src="http://static2.businessinsider.com/image/53ab349e69bedddc53c768aa/burning%20copper.gif" alt="burning copper" border="0" /></p>
<h2>The shapes are the product of some careful organization</h2>
<p>Fascinated by that smiley face or oddly lopsided heart in a&nbsp;firework display? It's nothing more than some careful organization of the stars. If they're just spread randomly, they'll expand out evenly through the sky once they explode.</p>
<p>But, because the explosion will push the stars out in a predictable trajectory, it is possible to&nbsp;organize the stars in a particular pattern on the cardboard cylinder on the outside of the firework. This will create specific shapes.</p>
<h2>The big, booming sound comes from expanding gases</h2>
<p>No fireworks display would be complete without the ear-shattering booms that freak out dogs and resonate in our chests. That's caused by&nbsp;a sonic boom that happens as the gases inside the firework expand faster than the speed of sound.</p>
<p>Throw all of these explosives and awesome chemistry together and you get this:</p>
<p><img src="http://static3.businessinsider.com/image/53ab386deab8ea9822084285/colorful fireworks.gif" alt="colorful fireworks" border="0" /></p>
<p><em>Jennifer Welsh contributed to an <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/how-do-fireworks-work-2014-6">earlier version</a> of this article.</em></p><p><strong>SEE ALSO:&nbsp;<a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/what-would-happen-if-yellowstone-supervolcano-erupted-2017-6" >A deadly supervolcano lies under Yellowstone — here's what would happen if it erupted</a></strong></p>
<p><strong>DON'T MISS:&nbsp;<a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/diet-and-exercise-and-alzheimers-risk-2017-6" >The simple way to understand how your diet might influence your risk of Alzheimer’s disease</a></strong></p>
<p><a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/how-do-fireworks-work-the-chemistry-of-fireworks-2017-6#comments">Join the conversation about this story &#187;</a></p> <p>NOW WATCH: <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/paintings-made-with-fireworks-2015-12">This artist makes paintings with firecracker explosions</a></p> http://www.businessinsider.com/scientific-chemistry-jokes-puns-2017-635 science jokes that are so cringe-worthy they might make a scientist groanhttp://www.businessinsider.com/scientific-chemistry-jokes-puns-2017-6
Mon, 26 Jun 2017 11:55:00 -0400Dave Mosher
<p><img style="float:right;" src="http://static3.businessinsider.com/image/594d22b2d084cc163f8b4991-802/texting-einstein-smart-millennials.jpg" alt="texting einstein smart millennials" data-mce-source="REUTERS/Lucy Nicholson" /></p><p>Scientists take their world- and life-changing work very seriously.</p>
<p>Whether it's charting the <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/paris-climate-change-limits-100-years-2017-6">possible</a> <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/global-warming-extinction-sea-levels-carbon-future-2017-6">consequences</a> of climate change, <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/radiology-precision-medicine-mortality-chronic-disease-2017-6">helping predict</a> when we might die, or keeping tabs on <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/nuclear-weapons-stockpiles-world-map-2017-4">nuclear weapons stockpiles</a>, their work can take on a huge gravitas.</p>
<p>But we all need to unwind, and sometimes nothing feels better than the rush endorphins from laughing at a good joke. (Laughter comes with some surprising and impressive <a href="http://www.mayoclinic.org/healthy-lifestyle/stress-management/in-depth/stress-relief/art-20044456">health benefits</a> too.)</p>
<p>We've scoured the internet and called on our readers to help us round up some of the best, worst, and cheesiest science jokes and puns around.</p>
<p>Here are some of our favorites &mdash; plus an explanation in case you don't get the joke. (Warning: It's possible only scientists will find these amusing.)</p>
<p><em><a href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/kelly-dickerson-9b043825/">Kelly Dickerson</a>&nbsp;previously rounded up a bunch of these jokes, and we're re-posting them here. </em></p><p><strong>SEE ALSO:&nbsp;<a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/spacex-dragon-cheese-rocket-2010-2017-3" >This is not a joke: Elon Musk once rocketed a wheel of cheese into space</a></strong></p>
<p><strong>DON'T MISS:&nbsp;<a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/beer-soda-fallout-radiation-atom-bombs-2017-4" >Scientists once nuked beers to see if they'd still be drinkable after an atomic blast</a></strong></p>
<h3>I was going to become a polymer scientist, but didn't because I thought the work would be too repetitive.</h3>
<img src="http://static4.businessinsider.com/image/594d361ad084cc08538b4921-400-300/i-was-going-to-become-a-polymer-scientist-but-didnt-because-i-thought-the-work-would-be-too-repetitive.jpg" alt="" />
<p><p>Explanation: The word "polymer" describes any material with more two types of&nbsp;repeating chemical units, usually in the form of a long chain. Examples include materials such as DNA (your genetic code), nylon, polyethylene terephthalate (or PETE, used in plastic bottles), pectin (in fruit), wool, cellulose (in wood), and silk.</p>
<p><em>Source: <a href="https://twitter.com/brettglass/status/878255166952230913">Brett Glass/@brettglass</a></em></p></p>
<br/><br/><h3>Q: Did you hear oxygen went on a date with potassium? A: It went OK.</h3>
<img src="http://static1.businessinsider.com/image/5637bf9fdd08953d7d8b456a-400-300/q-did-you-hear-oxygen-went-on-a-date-with-potassium-a-it-went-ok.jpg" alt="" />
<p><p><span>Explanation: The atomic symbol for oxygen and potassium are "O" and "K," respectively. They get together they spell OK.</span></p>
<p><em>Source: <a href="https://www.inorganicventures.com/fun-chemists">Inorganic Ventures</a></em></p></p>
<br/><br/><h3>If the Silver Surfer and Iron Man team up, they'd be alloys.</h3>
<img src="http://static3.businessinsider.com/image/5637bf9fdd08953d7d8b456b-400-300/if-the-silver-surfer-and-iron-man-team-up-theyd-be-alloys.jpg" alt="" />
<p><p><span>Explanation: In chemistry, an alloy is a mixture of metals. Silver and Iron are both metals, so if these guys teamed up they wouldn't just be </span><em>allies</em><span>, they would be </span><em>alloys</em><span> too. </span></p>
<p><em>Source: <a href="http://www.inorganicventures.com/fun-chemists">Inorganic Ventures</a></em></p></p>
<br/><br/><a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/scientific-chemistry-jokes-puns-2017-6#/#the-optimist-sees-the-glass-half-full-the-pessimist-sees-the-glass-half-empty-the-chemist-sees-the-glass-completely-full-half-with-liquid-and-half-with-air-4">See the rest of the story at Business Insider</a> http://www.businessinsider.com/science-backed-answers-to-wine-questions-2017-514 of your most embarrassing questions about wine answered with sciencehttp://www.businessinsider.com/science-backed-answers-to-wine-questions-2017-5
Sat, 10 Jun 2017 13:00:00 -0400Lydia Ramsey
<p><img style="float:right;" src="http://static4.businessinsider.com/image/5927292adf1bf0ec468b47e1-1153/rose-wine-11.jpg" alt="rose wine" data-mce-source="Ilya S. Savenok / Stringer / Getty Images"></p><p>We've been there.</p>
<p>You're in a liquor or grocery store, trying to pick out wine with a group of friends when, inevitably, some&nbsp;unexpected member&nbsp;offers up their&nbsp;expert&nbsp;opinion.</p>
<p>Truth be told, there's a whole lot of science behind wine. Genetics, chemistry, microbiology, and even&nbsp;psychology all play a role in everything from how wine is produced, to which bottles&nbsp;we buy and when.</p>
<p>To get a better sense of what goes into making that glass of red or white, <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/science-backed-answers-to-your-biggest-wine-questions-2016-2">in 2016 we chatted</a>&nbsp;with James Harbertson, a Washington State University professor of enology — that's the study of wine. In honor of National Wine Day, here's everything you need to know.</p><p><strong>SEE ALSO:&nbsp;<a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/what-are-the-biggest-health-myths-2016-1" >The definitive, scientific answers to 20 health questions everyone has</a></strong></p>
<p><strong>DON'T MISS:&nbsp;<a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/science-backed-ways-to-relax-2016-2" >15 simple ways to relax, according to scientists</a></strong></p>
<h3>Is cheap wine bad for you?</h3>
<img src="http://static5.businessinsider.com/image/56c76c056e97c631008b867e-400-300/is-cheap-wine-bad-for-you.jpg" alt="" />
<p><p>No way. Last year, rumors of a lawsuit that claimed that cheap wines had <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/lawsuit-claims-wine-contains-arsenic-2015-3">high levels of arsenic</a>&nbsp;in it&nbsp;began circulating. One small detail the rumors left out: The lawsuit compared the levels of arsenic in wine to that&nbsp;of drinking water.&nbsp;To have any kind of negative experience as a result of this, you'd&nbsp;most likely&nbsp;have to drink about 2 liters of wine &mdash; a little more than 13 servings' worth.</p>
<p>That's an awful lot of wine.</p></p>
<br/><br/><h3>What's the difference between a wine that costs $50 and a wine that costs $500?</h3>
<img src="http://static5.businessinsider.com/image/56c777b92e526556008b8610-400-300/whats-the-difference-between-a-wine-that-costs-50-and-a-wine-that-costs-500.jpg" alt="" />
<p><p>The short answer? Not a lot &mdash; so long as you're just drinking it.</p>
<p>The price comes from a number of different factors &mdash; the maker, the type of grape, how long it's aged, etc. But if you're just looking for a solid bottle of wine, an inexpensive bottle could taste just as good if not better than a thousand-dollar bottle.</p>
<p>If anything, there's a bigger psychological component at play. A study that conducted a&nbsp;<a href="http://ageconsearch.umn.edu/handle/37328">blind taste test</a> in which people were given samples of wine found that they did not get&nbsp;any more enjoyment from a&nbsp;more expensive wine compared to a&nbsp;less expensive version. In <a href="http://livebetterlife.net/wp-content/uploads/2013/09/Vol.3-No.1-2008-Evidence-from-a-Large-Sample-of-Blind-Tastings.pdf">another study</a>, researchers found that untrained wine tasters actually liked the more expensive wines less than the cheaper ones.</p>
<p>If you're collecting, on the other hand, of course the price tag will make a difference.</p>
<p><span>"In the end, it's just wine," said Harbertson.</span></p></p>
<br/><br/><h3>What are tannins and what are they doing in my wine?</h3>
<img src="http://static6.businessinsider.com/image/5630c43a9dd7cc19008c5409-400-300/what-are-tannins-and-what-are-they-doing-in-my-wine.jpg" alt="" />
<p><p>You know that dry&nbsp;feeling you get in your mouth after a sip of red wine? You can thank tannins, <a href="http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/9759559">naturally occurring chemicals</a>&nbsp;that are&nbsp;found in wine and other beverages, like black tea.</p>
<p>Tannins give wine its weight &mdash; what makes it more milky than watery &mdash; so they're integral to all red wines, <span>Harbertson said. They bind to proteins like the ones in saliva, which is what makes your mouth dry out. It's not as simple an experience as tasting something that's bitter, he said. The interaction of red wine in your mouth ends up feeling more like a texture than just a taste, something known as a "mouthfeel."</span></p></p>
<br/><br/><a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/science-backed-answers-to-wine-questions-2017-5#/#is-it-bad-if-i-like-3-wine-4">See the rest of the story at Business Insider</a> http://www.businessinsider.com/science-backed-answers-to-wine-questions-2017-514 of your most embarrassing questions about wine answered with sciencehttp://www.businessinsider.com/science-backed-answers-to-wine-questions-2017-5
Thu, 25 May 2017 15:05:00 -0400Lydia Ramsey
<p><img style="float:right;" src="http://static4.businessinsider.com/image/5927292adf1bf0ec468b47e1-1153/rose-wine-11.jpg" alt="rose wine" data-mce-source="Ilya S. Savenok / Stringer / Getty Images"></p><p>We've been there.</p>
<p>You're in a liquor or grocery store, trying to pick out wine with a group of friends when, inevitably, some&nbsp;unexpected member&nbsp;offers up their&nbsp;expert&nbsp;opinion.</p>
<p>Truth be told, there's a whole lot of science behind wine. Genetics, chemistry, microbiology, and even&nbsp;psychology all play a role in everything from how wine is produced, to which bottles&nbsp;we buy and when.</p>
<p>To get a better sense of what goes into making that glass of red or white, <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/science-backed-answers-to-your-biggest-wine-questions-2016-2">in 2016 we chatted</a>&nbsp;with James Harbertson, a Washington State University professor of enology — that's the study of wine. In honor of National Wine Day, here's everything you need to know.</p><p><strong>SEE ALSO:&nbsp;<a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/what-are-the-biggest-health-myths-2016-1" >The definitive, scientific answers to 20 health questions everyone has</a></strong></p>
<p><strong>DON'T MISS:&nbsp;<a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/science-backed-ways-to-relax-2016-2" >15 simple ways to relax, according to scientists</a></strong></p>
<h3>Is cheap wine bad for you?</h3>
<img src="http://static5.businessinsider.com/image/56c76c056e97c631008b867e-400-300/is-cheap-wine-bad-for-you.jpg" alt="" />
<p><p>No way. Last year, rumors of a lawsuit that claimed that cheap wines had <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/lawsuit-claims-wine-contains-arsenic-2015-3">high levels of arsenic</a>&nbsp;in it&nbsp;began circulating. One small detail the rumors left out: The lawsuit compared the levels of arsenic in wine to that&nbsp;of drinking water.&nbsp;To have any kind of negative experience as a result of this, you'd&nbsp;most likely&nbsp;have to drink about 2 liters of wine &mdash; a little more than 13 servings' worth.</p>
<p>That's an awful lot of wine.</p></p>
<br/><br/><h3>What's the difference between a wine that costs $50 and a wine that costs $500?</h3>
<img src="http://static5.businessinsider.com/image/56c777b92e526556008b8610-400-300/whats-the-difference-between-a-wine-that-costs-50-and-a-wine-that-costs-500.jpg" alt="" />
<p><p>The short answer? Not a lot &mdash; so long as you're just drinking it.</p>
<p>The price comes from a number of different factors &mdash; the maker, the type of grape, how long it's aged, etc. But if you're just looking for a solid bottle of wine, an inexpensive bottle could taste just as good if not better than a thousand-dollar bottle.</p>
<p>If anything, there's a bigger psychological component at play. A study that conducted a&nbsp;<a href="http://ageconsearch.umn.edu/handle/37328">blind taste test</a> in which people were given samples of wine found that they did not get&nbsp;any more enjoyment from a&nbsp;more expensive wine compared to a&nbsp;less expensive version. In <a href="http://livebetterlife.net/wp-content/uploads/2013/09/Vol.3-No.1-2008-Evidence-from-a-Large-Sample-of-Blind-Tastings.pdf">another study</a>, researchers found that untrained wine tasters actually liked the more expensive wines less than the cheaper ones.</p>
<p>If you're collecting, on the other hand, of course the price tag will make a difference.</p>
<p><span>"In the end, it's just wine," said Harbertson.</span></p></p>
<br/><br/><h3>What are tannins and what are they doing in my wine?</h3>
<img src="http://static6.businessinsider.com/image/5630c43a9dd7cc19008c5409-400-300/what-are-tannins-and-what-are-they-doing-in-my-wine.jpg" alt="" />
<p><p>You know that dry&nbsp;feeling you get in your mouth after a sip of red wine? You can thank tannins, <a href="http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/9759559">naturally occurring chemicals</a>&nbsp;that are&nbsp;found in wine and other beverages, like black tea.</p>
<p>Tannins give wine its weight &mdash; what makes it more milky than watery &mdash; so they're integral to all red wines, <span>Harbertson said. They bind to proteins like the ones in saliva, which is what makes your mouth dry out. It's not as simple an experience as tasting something that's bitter, he said. The interaction of red wine in your mouth ends up feeling more like a texture than just a taste, something known as a "mouthfeel."</span></p></p>
<br/><br/><a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/science-backed-answers-to-wine-questions-2017-5#/#is-it-bad-if-i-like-3-wine-4">See the rest of the story at Business Insider</a>